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World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2022; 28(20): 2152-2162
Published online May 28, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i20.2152
Artificial intelligence: Emerging player in the diagnosis and treatment of digestive disease
Hai-Yang Chen, Peng Ge, Jia-Yue Liu, Jia-Lin Qu, Fang Bao, Cai-Ming Xu, Hai-Long Chen, Dong Shang, Gui-Xin Zhang
Hai-Yang Chen, Peng Ge, Jia-Yue Liu, Jia-Lin Qu, Fang Bao, Cai-Ming Xu, Hai-Long Chen, Dong Shang, Gui-Xin Zhang, Laboratory of Integrative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, Liaoning Province, China
Hai-Yang Chen, Peng Ge, Jia-Yue Liu, Fang Bao, Cai-Ming Xu, Hai-Long Chen, Dong Shang, Gui-Xin Zhang, Department of General Surgery, Pancreatic-Biliary Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, Liaoning Province, China
Jia-Lin Qu, Cai-Ming Xu, Hai-Long Chen, Dong Shang, Gui-Xin Zhang, Institute (College) of Integrative Medicine, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116044, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Chen HY, Ge P, Liu JY contributed equally to the manuscript; Chen HY conceived this review and drafted the manuscript; Ge P, Liu JY, Bao F and Qu JL are responsible for the figure drawing and literature collation; Xu CM, Chen HL and Shang D edited and finalized the manuscript for submission; Zhang GX reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript.
Supported by Key Discipline of Liaoning Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinical Ability Promote Construction Project, No. LNZYXZY201903; and Development Guidance Plan Projects in Liaoning Province, No. 2019JH-8/10300028.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the senior author or other coauthors contributed their efforts in this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Gui-Xin Zhang, PhD, Professor, Director, Department of General Surgery, Pancreatic-Biliary Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, No. 222 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116011, Liaoning Province, China. zgx0109@126.com
Received: September 24, 2021
Peer-review started: September 24, 2021
First decision: November 16, 2021
Revised: November 24, 2021
Accepted: April 24, 2022
Article in press: April 24, 2022
Published online: May 28, 2022
Abstract

Given the breakthroughs in key technologies, such as image recognition, deep learning and neural networks, artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be increasingly developed, leading to closer and deeper integration with an increasingly data-, knowledge- and brain labor-intensive medical industry. As society continues to advance and individuals become more aware of their health needs, the problems associated with the aging of the population are receiving increasing attention, and there is an urgent demand for improving medical technology, prolonging human life and enhancing health. Digestive system diseases are the most common clinical diseases and are characterized by complex clinical manifestations and a general lack of obvious symptoms in the early stage. Such diseases are very difficult to diagnose and treat. In recent years, the incidence of diseases of the digestive system has increased. As AI applications in the field of health care continue to be developed, AI has begun playing an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the digestive system. In this paper, the application of AI in assisted diagnosis and the application and prospects of AI in malignant and benign digestive system diseases are reviewed.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Digestive disease, Convolutional neural network, Deep learning, Review

Core Tip: With the continuous development of artificial intelligence, its integration in the field of medical and health care has received increasing attention, allowing the development and application of medical expert systems and artificial neural networks in the medical field. The development of artificial intelligence has resulted in not only more accurate diagnoses of digestive system diseases but also new treatments. Further research on the progress of artificial intelligence in digestive system diseases is needed to better serve patients.